skirtcafe.org

Skirt Cafe is an on-line community dedicated to exploring, promoting and advocating skirts and kilts as a fashion choice for men, formerly known as men in skirts. We do this in the context of men's fashion freedom --- an expansion of choices beyond those commonly available for men to include kilts, skirts and other garments. We recognize a diversity of styles our members feel comfortable wearing, and do not exclude any potential choices. Continuing dialog on gender is encouraged in the context of fashion freedom for men. See here for more details.

I'm both cheap and practical, so I don't put much stock in fashion footwear. For daily outdoor wear I have exactly one pair of shoes, suede loafers (from the men's side of the aisle, in case anyone is curious).

About 30 years ago I worked as a computer contractor for a large law firm, and often when I went to do some programming work I noticed that some of the paralegals, who spent 9+ hours on their feet walking around with arms full of legal briefs, survived the hot summers and stress on their feet by wearing spandex ballet-type slippers.

I fell in love with the idea. I got some of my own, and liked the feel so much I even wore them out of the house (which turned out to be a bad idea, because Isotoners are ridiculously expensive and not really made for use on concrete sidewalks and dirt or gravel driveways). I didn't even care what people thought of them; that was before I scurried into the closet and locked the door behind me. The only time I got ribbed for wearing them was when I wore them for the long commute and only realized when I got to the office that I had forgotten to bring my office shoes to change into before I got out of the car.

Now I'm at the age and weight where it's impossible for me to find those slippers in a size that fits comfortably -- especially when my chronic edema has my feet swollen to twice their size. But I still wear the largest ones I can find, and count on the stretch of the spandex to get them on over my enormous Hobbit feet.

Gordon wrote:Wow. That's quite a collection. I'm jealous! I need a woman's size 13 wide and there just isn't much variety in those behemoths.

You have my sympathies. Unless you are into fetish footwear, such as Pleaser then I think you are limited to mostly mary janes and a few flats. I am rather lucky I'm a 40-41 eu/7-8 uk/9-10 us (w) so there's a lot of choice.

Here's the main section again but finished this time:

Fantastic shoes! I was thinking about the grey court shoes I tried on when I popped over and wished I'd taken them home ♡ they were great. I just have a wide size 7 that I need, I think 3 inch heels are my limit though. any higher and I struggle to walk.

Ralph wrote:I'm both cheap and practical, so I don't put much stock in fashion footwear. For daily outdoor wear I have exactly one pair of shoes, suede loafers (from the men's side of the aisle, in case anyone is curious).

About 30 years ago I worked as a computer contractor for a large law firm, and often when I went to do some programming work I noticed that some of the paralegals, who spent 9+ hours on their feet walking around with arms full of legal briefs, survived the hot summers and stress on their feet by wearing spandex ballet-type slippers.

I like the idea of your Isotoners. It's good to look after ones feet For comfort I tend to wear Camel Active ballerinas (800.70.01) which are great round the house as well as out as they have a soft rubber sole. I liked them so much that I got them in three colours, cream, wine and denim.

I got so tired of trying to buy shoes I settled for a pair of black canvas Vans. which I love and go well with my stuff. I know I can get stuff online but I'd like to try on some in person first. which has been a no go. I wear an 11 men's.

Bamaskirting wrote:I got so tired of trying to buy shoes I settled for a pair of black canvas Vans. which I love and go well with my stuff. I know I can get stuff online but I'd like to try on some in person first. which has been a no go. I wear an 11 men's.

Look for a site that has free returns including shipping.

That way, if something doesn't fit or doesn't look right after all, you can jut throw it back in the same box, attach the label they give you, and drop it off at no charge.

I'd like to give a shout-out to Caultron for one of his suggestions. As I've said before I owned quite a number of high heels when I was a crossdresser, figured I was a size 10 because I could get into them without too much discomfort and they looked good. This time around, I measured my feet again and determined 9 1/2 was more accurate. Again, without unreasonable discomfort. When I first wore a new pair, I'd spray in some shoe stretcher and when I took them off because my foot couldn't take any more I figured I'd done good. Then Caultron comes around and says new shoes should only pinch for the first few seconds. Say what??? Yeah! About a week and a half ago my urge to get a shift or two overcame my desire to build up my bank account so instead of catching the light rail home after work I headed toward my go to store, TJ Maxx. Along the way is Payless Shoes. My money must have been burning a BIG hole in my pocket because despite my feeling their shoes are not only inexpensive, but 2nd rate, I went in looking for the whole suite of current must-have shoes -- nude, red, black patent leather -- and tried on a few size 9 1/2's. A little tight, but hey ... beauty knows no pain! Right? Wrong, 9 1/2 wides were indeed comfortable within a few seconds and less expensive than Naturalizers at the outlet store. Not quite as solid of a heel nor as high quality as my Naturalizers, but you can't beat comfort! Btw, I haven't had a problem at Payless, Famous Footwear or the outlet stores. And that's whether I'm in slacks or a skirt. So go to any of those stores and try on some shoes so you get your comfortable size.

David, the PDX Fashion Pioneer

Social norms aren't changed by Congress or Parliament; they're changed by a sufficient number of people ignoring the existing ones and publicly practicing new ones.

In my experience, breaking in and stretching can't overcome buying the wrong size. If a shoe feels wrong the first time you put it on, it's probably going to feel wrong forever. And sizes do vary depending on the manufacturer, and style. So if a shoe doesn't feel right, don't be afraid to move up or doen a half size or so, or to try another width.

Some comments on sizing, I find that Clarks are often larger than their stated size, and now that I am sometimes wearing the thin socks normally sold as women's knee highs, or similar hosiery thickness leg covers, I can wear shoes that would normally be too tight with my regular socks.

Uncle Al wrote:Finding a woman's size 14.5-15, without breaking the bank, is very hard to do

Even harder is finding anything even remotely attractive in anything larger than a 10 or a 12.

I've been seeking a nice pair of Mary Janes, however it seems when we go from women's size 10 ($20), to women's size 12.... the price jumps to $80! REALLY! That little extra amount of material justified a $60 increase in price?!?!

"We all have the tendency to make simple things difficult, but the spirit that abides within us achieves its own ends by making all difficult things simple."-Manly Palmer Hall